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How Lake Shore Cryotronics is Helping Reduce Helium Costs in The Lab

Lake Shore Cryotronics’ Director of Product Management for Cryogenic Systems Rachael Floyd shares how Lake Shore Cryotronics is helping reduce helium costs in the lab. Why is the availability of helium becoming a pressing concern for research labs, and what unique challenges does it pose? The high cost of helium is a big...

New Glenn Completes Initial Cryogenic Testing at Launch Complex 36

Blue Origin continues to take big steps forward with its New Glenn orbital rocket as hardware rolls out to the launch pad, cryogenic testing begins, and the BE-4 engine gains a new test stand. The company still aims to launch New Glenn at least once in 2024.  Over the past month,...

Maybell Quantum Announces $25 Million Series A Funding Led By Cerberus

Maybell Quantum (“Maybell”), the quantum infrastructure company, has closed a $25 million funding round led by an affiliate of Cerberus Capital Management, L.P. (“Cerberus”), a global leader in alternative investing. This investment marks the start of a pivotal chapter in Maybell’s development. With Cerberus’ financial backing and operational support, Maybell...

ISRO Achieves Big Milestone For Human Mission Gaganyaan’s Cryogenic Engine

The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO), the space agency of the government of India responsible for the country’s space research and exploration programs, has achieved a major milestone in the human rating of its CE20 cryogenic engine, which powers the cryogenic stage of the human-rated LVM3 launch vehicle for Gaganyaan human...

Surface Superconductivity Appears in Topological Materials

Researchers at the Leibniz Institute for Solid State and Materials Research at IFW Dresden, Germany, have found proof for surface superconductivity in a class of topological materials known as Weyl semimetals. Interestingly, the superconductivity, which comes from electrons confined in so-called Fermi arcs, is slightly different on the top and...

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Mixed Refrigerant Cycles

Most cryogenic refrigeration systems, both large scale systems and cryocoolers, use helium as a working fluid. There are a number of advantages to helium, not the least of which is that helium remains a fluid down to the lowest achievable temperatures. In order to freeze helium, pressures of over 20...

Fountain Pumps and He II Phase Separators

Helium II (He II), the second liquid phase of the 4He isotope described in this column in Cold Facts Spring 2010 (http://2csa.us/he2), can be modeled as consisting of two interpenetrating fluids. One, the superfluid component, has zero viscosity and entropy and the other, the normal fluid component, has nonzero viscosity...

Turboexpanders

A vital technology in the refrigerators and liquefiers described in Cold Facts Volume 31 Number 3 is that of turboexpanders. These devices are rotating machines in which the process fluid (e.g., helium) does work against the turboexpander while moving from high pressure to a lower pressure and thus is cooled....

Food Processing

Cryogenics and Food The industrial gas industry provides a host of products and services related to food. The various gases have useful and sometimes fascinating applications in food industry. “The food industry is not a homogenous industry. The needs of customers processing hamburger vs. poultry vs. strawberries vs. seafood, for...

Primary Standards

Elie K. Track Hypres, Inc. elie@hypres.com http://www.hypres.com/ Primary standards involve the exact definition and realization of units of measurement for various quantities, time, length, mass, voltage, resistance, current, etc. International agreements based on the latest scientific knowledge define those units, and their realizations vary depending on the unit itself. For...

Shrink Fitting

Robin A. Rhodes Cryogenic Institute of New England, Inc. rrhodes@nitrofreeze.com Shrink fitting, (or “compression fitting” as it is sometimes called), is a method used to insert a pin or bushing into a housing or other assembly requiring an extremely tight tolerance fit. It can be used as an alternative to...

Telecommunications

From the Winter 2004 issue of Cold Facts magazine The recent M-Calc IV — 4th Industry Assessment workshop discussing military and commercial applications for low-cost cryocoolers, held in November in San Diego, highlighted progress being made in cryogenics as applied in telecommunications. The reliability and long lifetime of projects now...

An Issue of Pressure and Flow Rate in a Supply Tank

Please help solve this problem: A supply tank requires a vaporizer to generate sufficient pressure to pump stored fluid up into a vehicle or tank. The available head is limited as the tank level falls and it is important to minimize the system pressure drop to maintain the desired flow...

Using MLI on VJ Line Joints or Cryo Storage Tanks

When installing Multi Layer Insulation (MLI) blankets on VJ line joints or cryo storage tanks should they be wrapped and tied down tight or loose? These are usually pre-cut to size. Also should they have an access hole at the point of where the molecular sieve is installed to help...